1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to animal mazes, and more particularly to economical animal mazes capable of being quickly assembled into unlimited numbers of runway patterns.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animal mazes are in widespread use both for serious laboratory study of the behavior of small animals and for the amusement of children watching their pets. An example of an animal maze is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,236, wherein a coated cardboard base is formed with numerous slots. The animal runways are made of elongated and bendable coated cardboard inserts having tabs which correspond with the slots in the base. A primary disadvantage of the anmimal maze of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,236 is the limited number of maze patterns available, because the placement of the inserts to create different runways is limited to the locations of the base slots and insert tabs. In addition, repeated assembly and disassembly of the inserts tends to damage and weaken the cardboard tabs and to enlarge the base slots, so that the tabs do not securely hold the inserts in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,389 discloses an animal maze having a base with numerous precision grooves that are deep enough to hold wall plates inserted therein in upright fashion. The base may be constructed in several pieces which are held together by their grip on a common wall plate engaged in the base pieces. The costliness of the numerous grooved pieces of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,389 is apparent. Further, maze patterns are restricted to the configurations provided by the grooved bases.
The maze of U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,364 employs a few standard parts for designing and building a large number of maze patterns. The maze device include a base having numerous holes distributed in a regular grid-like pattern. A series of grooved posts are provided with pegs for inserting into the base holes. The post grooves engage the wall panels. The disadvantage of the animal maze of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,364 is that non-orthogonal runways are not possible. A further drawback is that constructing a maze from the numerous small parts is a time-consuming task for children, who often do not possess the patience to construct an elaborate maze but rather want to promptly see their pet in action.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,982 shows a layout board in which map pins and tacks are pressed into a composition board to hold layout and templates to the board.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,619 discloses a kit for model buildings. The kit includes numerous structural forms that are permanently erected on a perforated base plate. The forms are provided with locating pins protruding downwardly therefrom to correspond with the base plate perforations. Concrete is poured into and around the forms to create a permanent model.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,617 describes a maze game. Mazes of different patterns are created by fixedly inserting a number of regularly spaced upstanding pegs into a board. The pegs are formed with quadrantly spaced slots to receive the ends of partition members. A sloted border is also employed. The maze of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,617 is essentially similar to that of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,364 described previously, and it suffers the same shortcomings as the U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,364.
Thus, a need exists for sturdy and inexpensive apparatus which may be quickly assembled into an unlimited number of runway patterns to create an animal maze.